Application downloads 'set to increase as people choose mobile recycling'

21 December 2009 — 11:18 AM

Application downloads are set to increase to the five billion mark by 2014, research has found.

Findings revealed by analyst firm ABI Research suggested that the growing use of smart phones will see the download of applications more than double from the 2.3 billion application downloads recorded in 2009.

Bhavya Khanna, wireless research associate at ABI Research, said: "There are now more than 14 phones that run the Android operating system and many more will launch in 2010."

He added that the iPhone's share of the market is set to decrease between 2010 and 2014 as network operators and smartphone vendors introduce their own application stores.

It is expected that the growing use of applications, which may occur due to people deciding to get money for old mobile phones in order to upgrade, will see revenue from app sales decrease by 2013 as competition forces prices down.